A new definition of "new"

Today we went to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Grantham. It is a beautiful place and will be where we go to church for the rest of the semester. The priest was older but very nice and quite funny. The parish members overall are elderly. There were only a few young families at the church. Construction on the church started in 1831 and it was done in 1833. We sang VERY traditional hymns. In fact, one of the hymns we sang was the song that the characters in the movie, Titanic, sang when they were in church. Here is what I found most interesting about the hymnal. It's title was "Old and New Hymns." Well, the "newest" hymn we sang was written by a gentleman who died in 1914, and most of the hymns were from the 1800's. There were even some hymns in the book that were originally written in 400 AD. This interesting observation made me wonder, what is the definition of new? Things here are older than they are in America, so the word "new" must have a different point of reference here...just thought I would let you know what was running through my mind. Additionally, congratulations were given to a young couple who just were married in the church. The bride's family has ties to the church reaching back into the middle of the 18th century. Another interesting thing is that the priest was quite a historian; he spoke about humility and what various people wrote about humility in the 1400's....so this begs the question, when is something in England considered new? I guess I will just have to continue to ponder this thought as I continue my adventure.  Everyone at the church is getting really excited. The pope is coming 16 - 19 September 2010 to beatify Cardinal Newman. They have a bus trip planned, but unfortunately there are no seats left for Isaac and me to join in on the excitement. I am sure we will hear more about the pope's visit as time passes. Here is a link to the church we attended in case you would like to find out more about it. St. Mary's Grantham